Iron Brothers: The Abomination Engines
An exercise in absurdity Premise Amazon space marines, against marauding murderous mechs with the face of Thomas the train, while a giant purple dinosaur demon tries to eradicate them all. As I said, an exercise in absurdity. Forces *Imperial Commonwealth **Iron Brotherhood ***BBB: ****'Queen B': The Legion Maestro (General), leading the BBB in battle against the Abominations. ****Pending ****Team 'Gamma': The third group assigned a specific mission while the rest of the Legion battles the robots. All members are known either by their numbers or their call signs. *****'Captain': The leader of the group assigned the mission of taking out the factory. Gruff, no nonsense and steadfast the only time she lets go of her air of control is in the thick carnage of battle when she is unleashing bone crushing brutality on her foes. She can be identified by the red stripe that goes down her helmet and her drill sergeant tone. *****'Slaughter': A lover of warfare and weapons, Slaughter prefers melee to long range, sporting two SABRE axes along with her normal weaponry. She has such a love of weaponry it is said she sleep with a warhammer, dried bloodstains and all. She can easily be pointed by the black twintails she adorns her helmet with, and her maniacal laughter in battle. *****'Doc': The team medic, she wield a riot shield, several inches thick, and a med kit. Her favorite medical device is the staple gun, which says all you need to know about her bedside care. Beyond that she wields a sonic scalpel on her arm, along with the rest of her Med-Comp. She can be identified by her white helmet. *****'Fireworks': The demolition Expert. Sporting a pair of jet engines on her backpack, she wields twin slugger pistols, and is always ready to deploy explosive. She is seemingly docile and practically taciturn unless her expertise is called upon. *****'Digits': The technology expert. She sports several mechanical tentacles emerging from her back, which she can use to repair like a mechanic, or interface with devices. Most of her squad mates are not fond of her due to an 'incident' involving the showers and the security cameras. The only ones she is civil with beyond missions, is the Newbie, for obvious reasons, and Tarot. *****'Twinkle-Toes': The group's sniper. She can be identified by her sniper rifle, and the black cape and cowl she wears. It seems most of the other girls are fond of her. *****'Tarot': The Psychic of the group. Sporting a large staff, and a hood like contraption over her helmet, Tarot, is able to use her psychic abilities to read minds, and cast illusions. With her hood and staff she can fire 'psychic lightning'. She tend to speak in soft, somewhat seductive tone, and the others, save Digits, make an effort to keep her separate from the Newbie. She also claims to be an expert in pole dancing. *****'Newbie': The new member of the group. She has no real form of differentiating her from any other Iron Sister. Most of the group treat her somewhere between a peon and a little sister, except for Tarot, most of them make sure to keep those separate. She is eager to prove herself to the others and perhaps not entirely prepared for the madness of the universe she lives in. **Colonial Guard: **Walker Chapters: *Abomination Engines: *Bar'ney, Greater Daemon of Cringe: **Hipster Reptilians: Raptor saurian reptiles in black and red leather jackets, denim jeans and overly long scarfs trying to hard to be cool when not slaughtering innocents for their master. **Lamias: Snake women, with bizarrely masculine bodies, very long arms, pale skin, and androgynous faces. They act as though they are attractive when really they are not. *Naviel: A strange boy that accompanies Team Gamma serving as a guide to the factory producing the rouge robots. Part 1 Once upon a time, Fastidius ruled a star empire. He was one of many local lords who had long ruled, and bickered over this region of stars after the Great Fall. He ruled with impunity, and strength, forging his clan into a mighty empire that conquered their enemies. He did this in his youth, and secured his family's position in his older years. So it was when the 'Imperial Commonwealth' came demanding he bend the knee to the Empress he had never met, heard of, whose armies he had never encountered. He found the name to be silly, a contradiction, a star empire too afraid, ashamed to admit it was an empire. So it was he sent the 'Empress' a message of his own, the envoy's head in a box. What he did not expect was her reply. It came swift, and it came hard. When the computer alerted him to several ships having translated in system, his immediate thought was guerrilla warfare, a strike to weaken their defenses before the conflict fully emerged. After all, how could a full battle fleet have arrived so quickly. His immediate presumption was proven wrong, when the ship opened fire. They did not fire on the residential areas, or government buildings, or the power plant, they fired down seemingly indiscriminately, but mostly on the larger buildings. When asked about a response, he saw the defense satellites falling, most in the distance, but one fell in the city, causing a death toll too high for him to want to know. Then he saw them, the ships. They were not the fairly small frigate sized vessels his empire fielded. No, those were engine pods a habitation block connected by scaffolding and armor plating to the jump drive. No, in comparison to the vessels he saw, those were canoes, and compared to his own vehicles, the enemy fielded Greek triremes. His soldiers came in, shouting about infantry, massive infantry, walking tanks. They came in talking about evacuation. No sooner said, 'they' came. Walking in large bulky power armor, a dark green tinge with large black pauldrons on their shoulders, their weapons, large 'rifle' a bit too large to called that, devastated his men. One man took a round to his chest, and his chest erupted, flesh, bone and armor, all together. Another one took it to his neck, leaving only a stump and the top half of his head flying. The last soldier, took a bolt to the shoulder, taking it off, and a good portion of that side of the head. They were all taken down in a single motion, by a single gun, by one lone shooter. This giant walked in with several others behind them, Fastidius shot at them with his pistol, but the bullets did little but crumple against their armor. They held him, with no care, that they were cracking his bone, and forced him on his knees as one of them drew a sword. It was then that he understood. All of this was due to his slight, his arrogance, his ignorance. The Commonwealth wasn't some weak empire, it was brutal, an unwavering, the envoy was not an insult, it was their one bit of mercy. His last sights of note, before the sword came down, was the insignia on their shoulders. An anthropomorphic bee, with a crown, a sneer, eye lashes on its rather large eyes, and a sword in hand as it bit down on a cigar. So ends the tale of Fastidius The Actual Start Upon the world of Gauis IV, was a large industrious metropolis, the key word being 'was'. Where once there was sprawling buildings and skyscrapers, there was destruction, death and tragedy. The mechanical monsters had emerged from the industrial sector and spread out like a virus, destroying all in their wake. Upon one road, the colonial guard guided an evacuation of the people, a river of souls seeking salvation against the backdrop of a city aflame. The guards that watched over them wore black garments, with grey gunmetal black armor, and dome helmets that left them without faces to be seen. They were armor along their coat tails and sported long rifles. On their left shoulder was a strap to hold their radios and around their waists were belts with pouches for other items. "Enemy incoming...!" shouted someone over the radio. That, did not help, there was nothing to give context for when and from where it was coming from. That was quickly made a moot point when a green beam of energy crashed into the middle of the crowd, making a burst of red mist, bones, and vaporized concrete in the form of dust. In the distance it become visible, walking on a mechanical spider legs, the cylinder base was capped with a mismatch of mechanical parts, and weapons, all forcibly held together by metal tubes, tentacles that came from some unseen core, but it had what all the others had. On its chest was a circular monitor that showed the image of a grey face, with large cartoonish eyes, and a smirk, the face of something from a children's cartoon. Protecting the sensitive components was blue armor plating with a black chimney on the back, bellowing smoke. The guardsmen opened fire on the dreaded machine with their blasters, firing red bolts of condensed energy at it, which started to heat up its armor plating, but not before the large barrel next to its head fired again, shooting another green beam into a group of soldiers. Their deaths were just as cataclysmic as the civilians' and it appeared to them that they were doomed. They could run, but that blast would fire again soon. They did not have enough blasters to hope to pierce its armor. All hope seemed lost, and that was when there was a sound like silent thunder, and one of the legs of machine contorted as the metal warped, again and again, until it snapped and it fell on the side with the beam cannon, firing it into the ground in front of it. 'It' landed near to the guard, with a thud that would've killed him if he was too close. The figure in large, bulky power armor, was seven to eight feet tall, in a dark green, with large pauldrons, with a cartoonish bee on it, with sword, scepter, cigar in its snarling mouth, and a crown on its head. Its helmet with red triangular optics, had a snout, a beak, literally shaped like one, where a black connected from the collar. It had a large metal back backpack, with thruster ports on the bottom. It sported several pouches hanging from the side of its hips via a belt, and held in its hand a large rectangular rifle, for too large for the colonial guard of even civilians to hold, let alone shoot. "Sweet Empress, who taught you normie how to aim..." said a bellow voice, with an electronic echo, still, the guardsmen recognized it to be the voice of a woman. His attention turned back to the machine, which was not struggling to get back up. "All those vulnerable spots and you chose to aim at the armor with your pea shooters, pathetic..." she said as she took aim and fired. Her gun gave of a small, short sonic boom, and the direction of her round was made clear only by the trail of sparks it left behind in the air, before it smash into the back of the beam cannon's barrel. It clearly hit something important as the piece exploded, sending the atrocious machine up and to the other side of the road crashing into the building from the explosion, while the guardsmen were knocked back. The machine still function, though a good portion of half of its body was now gone. It struggled to stand up and stand up as it tried to face towards the warrior in power armor. Its monitor face was cracked and glitching, its exposed innards leaked black oil, and mechanical tentacles flayed about madly, as if in pain. Yet, it was neither pity, nor the desire to put it out of its misery that motivated the warrior to fire another bolt, directly into its face, and towards whatever power source animated it, as its main body exploded. "So melodramatic..." she said. "You're..." said the guardsmen in awe as the others gathered around "you're a member of the Iron Brotherhood, an Iron Brother is here?!?" "Iron 'Sister'..." she said correcting him. "Like it matters...!" he said ecstatically "This means we can push back these damn machines!!!" The others cheered. "Which Legion are you?!?" "The Bee Three..." she replied with a sense of pride and amusement. "The what now...?" "The Bad Bitches Brigade!" Just like that more them began to land, seemingly jumping off the rooftops, and injuring one of the guardsmen from the shock wave of their impact with solid earth. It was then they looked up to see the drop ships coming down. Some of which had open hangar bays. Part 2 "Gather round maggots!" said the captain, as denoted by the red stripe down her helmet and a bird motif. Her 'beak' now sported a hawk head figure and wings that spread to cover the lower half of the helmet. The group of Iron Sisters gathered around her. Their base camp was a group of ruined skyscraper that had collapsed to block off the roads, and several large tanks and vehicle carriers. Around the perimeter were several other sisters with modifications to their already large guns, such a gun barrel at the end, a scope, and rectangular bars attached to the side. "We've got ourselves a mission...!" "Hoo-rah...!" was the response by their little group. "Okay maggots, this is the mission, we're to head towards the factory still making these blasted things, and nuke that sucker!" "Wait, seriously, wouldn't that kill us...?" asked another Sister. She sported a pair of seeming armored jet engines on top of her back pack, and twin pistol versions of their large guns. "What, NO! I don't mean that literally, numb nuts! We're going to blow up, like a fire works display on Empress Day!!!" "Uhhhhh..." "What...?" said the captain, clearly annoyed. "Those displays are still rather...large enough to be concerned about the safe distance away from ground zero..." "Sweet stars give me strength... We are going to go to the factory, shut it down, hopefully by a means that involves causing things inside to explode as she shoot them. Is that problematic...?" "Nope..." "Then, let's get to marching! Slaughter, Doc, Digits, Fireworks, Twinkle-Toes, Tarot and Newbie, we move out now!" "Troop Carrier or by foot...?" asked the one Sister holding a staff. "By foot, Tarot..." said the captain, face palming. "Which direction...?" asked the Sister with twin axes on her back and long black twin tails on the side of her helmet. "Look, just follow me damn it!" Newbie turned to the sound of the click. She had taken off her helmet to see the sea of fire, concrete and steel with her own eyes. It was an image of destruction accompanied by the sound of mechanical legs marching, concrete cracking and breaking, engines roaring, lungs shouting, guns firing, shells exploding and people dying. She had slightly darkened skin, with black hair, cut down to her ears in the front, but a ponytail in the back, down to her neck. Her eyes were a bright topaz brown and her lips were full, but there was a leanness to her face, there was no 'baby fat'. She was not starved, but she clearly had little fat on her body. She turned to the other marine with the mechanical tentacles on her backpack. 'Digit' was her call sign, and she was hunched over, clearly amused. "What was that...?!?" she barked, rearing towards her. "Your fault for taking of your helmet newbie. This is a warzone..." She growled and reattached the 'beak' to the tube. She put it back on, with a suction effect pulling in any loose strands as her optics lit up. "That still doesn't give you the right to take a picture of without my permission." "Oh come on, a pretty thing like you in power armor, looking out at all the pain and devastation..." she said with a theatrical tone "Do you know how much this would sell for on the extranet?!?" "Why do you even need money, you're an Iron Sister, it's not like you could spend it." "Never underestimate the power of technology." "Huh, is that the only reason for not taking of my helmet on down time." "Yeah, and MC Syndrome..." "What...?" "Main Character Syndrome, generally when someone does something to make them stand out from among the group...they die. The most common action that triggers this, not wearing a helmet to battle." "Are you being serious right now...?" "She is..." Down came another Sister, a hood like harness was over her helmet, three square digits, electricity arcing between them and the helmet. In her hand was a staff, the head of which sporte, several devices, tubing and seemingly random bits of technology, crowned with a chrome eagle head holding a crystal in its mouth, like it was coughing it up. She came down, with electricity arcing all about her person as she held her staff with both hands. Upon landing she held it to her side with one hand, with the sparks disappearing. "I've seen it happen so many times, and heard about it even more. Even the captain doesn't go into battle without a helmet." "Listen to Tarot, she knows things..." said Digit "Yeah, nothing wholesome from what I hear..." Newbie retorted "Awwwww..." said Tarot, leaning into Newbie's personal space "I know plenty of wholesome things that I can show you..." "Uhhh..." Newbie suddenly found herself hoisted up and off the ground, moved and placed back down on terra firma by Slaughter who was now between her and Tarot. Even with her helmet on, it was clear she was giving Tarot a look that translated to, 'don't you dare!' Slaughter was the Iron Sister with the twin saber axes on her back and black twintails attached to the side of her helmet. While Newbie didn't know the story about the twintails, she did know what a saber axe was. Saber axes were common melee weapons among the Iron Brotherhood, blades whose edges generated vast amounts of heat via a condensed infrared field, while the inside was made to quickly cool down. "If you lot are done with your operatic display..." said Captain, climbing a pile of rubble blocking their path "Twinkle-Toes has cleared the way." 'Twinkle-Toes' was the sniper, sporting a black cloak and cowl that had a camouflage feature. So named for her stealth, she was on top of a building, using her rifle to scout about the area, getting a feel for the movements and deployment of the walkers still in the area. What she did not expect however, was to see someone else on the rooftops. It appeared to be another human, clearly not augmented, wearing dark cloths under a blue cape that came down to their waist and wrapped around their body. From behind she could see silver hair, and when the figure turned around, she could see their grey eyes. However, the simple fact that they turned around and looked straight at her from so far away, jumped her, and that was enough for her to loose track of the target. The person was gone, and instead a cluster of papers flew threw the air. "Huh..." was her only response. Part 3 The group jogged down the street, all along their path was destroyed buildings, rubble, charred skeletons and large pools of dried blood. Newbie, Slaughter, Digit Tarot, were joined by Fireworks, who sported relatively small jet engines on top of her suit's backpack, and Doc, their medic, who walked about with a riot shield, several inches thick, and a brace around her right arm sporting a computer screen, keypad and numerous sensors. With time being of the essence, the group didn't stop to sight see. They were following the course their holographic HUDs displayed for them inside their helmets, a course plotted by Twinkle-Toes, who was still scouting ahead. Newbie spotted a sheet of paper, seemingly old with a slight yellow ting, attached to the wall she jogged past. She paid it no mine, but Tarot did. She stopped and stared at it with a look of suspicion for a moment before tearing it off, and throwing it away. She took off, not noticing the similar sheet of paper that landed on the hood of a still burning car. As they took off a black line formed, and open into an eye shape. Then it closed, and the ink faded as the wind came and carried it off. "It has been far too long since I sank my axes into anything..." said Slaughter. The group had stopped on the side of the street, while Captain spoke to Twinkle-Toes. Her activation of the communication system was signified by her pressing a button on the side of her helmet. "You think that's bad...?" said Fireworks, on the ground, arms wrapped around her knees, rocking back and forth in anticipation "Try sitting here quietly while all those explosions are going off in the distance..." There was a quivering tone in her voice, as at any moment she was ready to move. "Damn it, how long...?" "The abominations are sending out new kinds of units..." said the captain interrupting their conversation. "What do you mean...?" asked Newbie. "It seems that the distraction the main forces are providing is doing its job too well, or maybe they sense the act for what it is. Either way, they seem to be sending out scouting parties. Smaller drones." "How much smaller...?" Before anyone could say anything, they were interrupted by sound of something large, and metallic stomping into concrete, over and over. They turned to the end of the road, to the junction. From the left it came, one of the abominable machines, walking on its spider legs. It stopped and turned, and stared at them with its unchanging, unflinching cartoonish face. Then the inside of its large barrel began to glow with a green light. Newbie dashed to she side, partially burying herself into the wall by her own strength, and knocked through it by the force of the explosion. The others had scattered by the time she had been knocked down. Fireworks had taken to the sky, her engines carrying her to the rooftop on the other side of the street, but during the trip she fired at the machine's 'face' with her twin slugger pistols. It stumbled turning away to protect its face. Slaughter had ran towards it and leaped several feet up into the air, and across a few city blocks, bringing her axes down on one of the thing's legs, slicing through the metal like butter. Rather than fall, the large armored half of the leg rose up and flew down the street, electricity sparking. It orbited around Tarot, and as she pointed her staff flew back towards the machine, tip aimed for the face. It was now it fired its cannon again, melting the limb, at least partially, leaving drops of molten metal to strike it repeatedly. It stumbled back, as Digit climbed up its back, her mechanical tentacles doing the work, and the captain, opened fire on the cannon, taking it out. The explosion rocked it about, but Digit stayed on. "Now, from my calculations, and estimations..." Digit said, as her tendril handed her, her rifle "Your power source should be right...HERE!" She fired down the top of the central column, her slug, clearly hitting something, that exploded and caused the parts to want to fly off, by where held together by tendrils that made up its mass. It all collapsed into a mess of scrap pieces, held together by these tendrils. It was now that Newbie ran back out, her armor covered in dust from the concrete and looked about, only to find the battle over. "Damn it..." she said "Oh don't feel bad..." said Tarot walking up from behind her "We all started out like that." "I'ma bio-enhance warrior in power armor, I shouldn't have...been taken out that easy..." "We don't all start out as...competent..." said the captain, trying to be nice with her words and failing horribly "We all grow and figure it out. Experience is the best teacher." "I thought that was failure..." said Fireworks coming down. "Thanks guys, but...do I really belong here...?" "Of course...!" said Slaughter "Every corpse helps...!" It was fairly obvious that Newbie was glaring at her through the helmet. The captain raised her hand and clenched her fist, and the group gathered together as she turned and continued forward, the group following her. Tarot paused for just a second to look back, scanning the area, before taking off. It was moments afterwards, when they were gone, that it tried to move. The circular screen that was the machine's face, came undone, behind it a nest of mechanical tendrils. It crawled out like a slug, on its belly, before it stopped and looked up. The boy in the blue coat stood before him, tall, slender to the point of androgynous with pale white skin, silver hair and grey eyes. "Eye...Eye..." said the machine with a fizzling electronic hiss "I...love you...You-" The boy threw a paper on his the machine's 'face' and it began to fizzle out, as the remains of the glowing core behind the screen, exploded. The paper disintegrated as he walked away, disappearing in a cloud of smaller shredded scraps of paper. Part 4 "Come on you mongrels, you want to live forever?!?" shouted 'a' captain, of the BBB, standing atop the smoking wreckage of a vehicle, brandishing her sword and bearing her face and dark flowing locks to the world. Seconds later the beams of three of the monstrosities vaporized the upper half of her body as her sisters-in-arms pushed forward. They scaled over the wreckage of downed mechanical monstrosities, before more of them came, but they were no longer alone. The tower tank-like units were now flanked by smaller units, similar in design, but standing not much taller than a sister, and sporting a gatling gun atop their heads, or a flamethrower, through the second weapon was rather...pointless. The sisters of the BBB were helped along by the Colonial Guard, on foot, in their masses and by their plasma tanks. Not much different from normal tanks, but these sported plasma cannon as opposed to conventional ordinance. The sister threw these at the enemy and all the bullets, psychic attacks, explosives, and bladed weaponry they could to cut an 'oily' path through the enemy, but they knew it was slow and arduous. The two sides continued to battle on, as a sheet of paper flew overhead on the wind, an eye symbol painted upon it. The sheet of paper was very much like several others, some were on the street, others were attached to walls, debris, vehicles, all over the city, yet few noticed, and of those that did, they did not have the time to care about this fact. "Do you guys get the feeling something is off...?" asked Tarot, at the back of the group. "With you, yes..." replied Slaughter. "I'm serious..." "Who said I wasn't...?" "Will you two stop, I've been to forums more civil than you lot..." Digit quipped. "Look, something is watching us, I can feel it..." "Oh, you must love that..." said Fireworks. "I'm serious..." "Tarot, we're in a city, there are probably cameras all about and the enemy may be watching us from a distance..." said Slaughter "I know the difference." "Do you...?" said the captain. "Ugh, one little incident and now this..." "To be fair, it's not 'one' incident..." "Really..." said Slaughter "because luring us into the swamp strangler's lair so you and Digit can get photos for your website...was a rather crappy thing to do." "Oh come on, it's not like that thing could've hurt you guys..." "We were strung up like puppets..." the Captain grumbled. "Dare I ask how you guys go out of that..." asked Newbie. She suddenly dead stopped and looked to the side. The others stopped, those behind her, or those in front who looked back at the sound of them crashing into her. "Oi Newbie!" shouted Digit. Newbie pointed to the side and walked over to a person sitting amidst the rubble, face buried in their arms, which rested against their knees. The strange wore a dark bodysuit, with black leather boots, and a blue cape that covered the upper part of their body. Their skin was a strange pale white, their hair silver and when they looked up to Newbie's approach their grey eyes were visible, surrounded by runny black shadow some of which had streaked down their cheeks. "Huh, a survivor...this deep in enemy territory?" "That's impossible..." said Tarot, kneeling over and clearly distrustful of the boy. "Hey kid, we're are your parents..." asked Newbie. The boy just turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "What...?" "Newbie..." said Tarot standing up "He's probably a teenager, maybe late teens, early twenties. Besides his parents are probably dead." "No, way, he's so...small..." "No..." said the boy "You're just so large." He stood up, wiping the dust of his backside and turning towards her. "Do you really not understand that most un-augmented humans don't grow past seven feet, heck six feet is tall." "Huh...to be honest I thought the Colonial Guard were using child soldiers..." "That's a rather wasteful use of resources, but then again this is the Commonwealth..." "Watch your tongue 'boy'..." said the captain "Yes, yes, I noticed the large guns and the large muscles holding them." The captain grumbled "I take it you lot are heading towards the factory...?" "Where else...?" asked Tarot, with a tone of dislike. "Then you should be aware of all the defenses they put up." "What defenses...?" asked the captain. "The flying drones, the walkers they have implanted into the ground as turrets. They seem to be expecting something." "How do you know this...?" asked Fireworks "I'm good at not being noticed..." "Really now..." said Tarot "You sound like you would make an excellent...spy..." "What's wrong with you...?" asked Slaughter "We generally have to keep you separated from pretty boys..." Tarot growled, to the surprise of everyone. "For some time...I've had the feeling that we're being watched, and it was strongest just before Newbie noticed this strange youth, somehow alive in the midst of a robot apocalypse!" "Yes, you're paranoid, we get it..." said the captain. "I'm psychic damn it, could you at least listen to me?!?" "Tarot dear...give us one good point of evidence that this...whatever you're doing is actually your 'psychic powers' and not you disliking a boy for being prettier than you..." Tarot looked around, as everyone looked at her, even the boy, who seemed somewhat uninterested in the drama unfolding before him. "Fine! But trust me, you're going to regret not listening to me...!" "Riiiiiiight... So kid, do you know they way to the industrial sector?" "Yes..." "Can you lead us there...?" "What confidence do I have in surviving if I go there...?" Captain aimed her gun at him. "Well...that's a somewhat difficult point to debate with..." "Good, and now that we're in agreement...stay away from the one with the mechanical arms." "Hey!" shouted Digit. "Ma'am...!" shouted the Colonial guard. The Iron Sister stood leaning over a table looking at a holographic map of the battlefield. She wore a cape, yellow and green, and sported and eagle design on her left pauldron, her chest armor, shins and face plate. The edges of her armor were painted yellow, and her left arm sported a large fist like attachment her normal armored hand held. It was partially connected at the elbow, and a tube connected to the backpack. Her normal arm held a bar that she could squeeze to make it clench its fist. "What is it...?" she asked, surrounded by various other captain rank soldiers. "Well there's, we've caught a strange...communication, we believe it's the enemy communicating, but they seem to be converging upon the source of the transmission." "Give it to her..." she motioned to the mechanic. Like Digit she sported mechanical tendrils, but they were more numerous and paired with more traditional mechanical arms with drills, saw, welders, clamps etc. Her optics looked like binoculars and she sported a belt with numerous pockets but also various gadgets and devices. One of her tendrils extended towards the guardsman, who held up a circular device. White tendrils emerged from the end and sparked as they connected with it. "The hell..." was her response through her modulator, a synthesized, mechanical voice that somehow captured the emotion of shock and revulsion. "What's wrong...?" asked the general. The mechanic turned and pressed the button on her com-system to play it for them. "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family-" "Turn it off...!" shouted the general. She did just that. "What the hell is singing that insipid noise...?" "Unknown, sir, ma'am, Queen B, I-" he stuttered nervously "Get to the point before I clonk you." her robot arm clenched and bolts sparked across the surface of its fist. "We're not certain what's generating this signal, only that the point of....where we're detecting it, seems to have some manner of interference as our instruments have trouble making sense of that area. The abomination also seem drawn to it. When they are not attacking us, they seem to be heading toward it." "Where is this point...?" "On the far side of the city, to the north." "What do you think...?" she asked, directing her question to the mechanic. "It may explain what corrupted that machine operating the factory. The cartoonish faces on these things...is most peculiar. This may be some sort of computer virus. That said, I should probably go and check my systems..." "Hmmm, order the fleet to prepare for orbital bombardment and have a team board the planetary defense satellite, mandatory tech expert." "Oh..." said another captain "A Dawn Operation?" "We shall see. Part 5 Twinkle-Toes landed with none of the stealth her name implied. The concrete beneath her feet cracked and crumbled, and the titles fractured. She had landed in front of her group and the boy. "Domo..." he said, to the confusion of everyone. They simply assumed was some local way of saying 'hello'. "You're sure it's safe...?" asked the captain. The group was in front of a subway entrance, a flight of stairs down into the undercity and its tracks of monorails. "Don't be silly, of course it's not safe..." She pressed the end of her gun into his cheek. "It was safe enough before the giant murder machines started attacking, but that was then, I don't know why you think it would safe now. However, said machines are a bit too large for down here, meaning only their smaller counterparts could be down here." "Smaller counterparts...?" "These machines are a face, a brain, a power core, and their tendrils. The rest that you see is just junk they assembled together around them. It's why despite the similar armaments they all look somewhat different. The factory isn't building those massive machines, it's building their cores." "Which means..." "Aim for the face..." said Digit. "A rather...glaring structural flaw..." "You mean 'design' flaw..." said the boy "and yes, though I get the feeling they weren't designed with bio-augmented amazons in power armor and wielding coilguns to face them on the field." "Perhaps..." "Can we go before something sees us...?" asked Newbie somewhat nervous. "Agreed..." said the boy. The group made their way down the stairs and into the dark, where they moved about via their night vision. Newbie was caught a bit by surprise when the boy held her hand. "Uhhh... "Normal people can't see in the dark and of this group I distrust you the least, when it comes to my safety." "Okay..." "Scared of something...?" asked Tarot with an amused tone. "Have you given me reason to consider myself...safe...?" "Be silent..." said Captain, "and hold this position..." Twinkle-Toes had stopped and knelt as she aimed with her rifle. Everyone else readied their guns, or Tarot who readied her staff, and knelt down. "What is it...?" "Abominations, but without their bodies..." "What...?" asked Slaughter. "Their faces, and their cores, with said cored covered in robotic tendrils like the ones on Digit's back. There is a bunch of them up ahead seemingly...doing nothing..." "How are we going to get past them...?' asked Newbie. All of them were using their com-systems to speak, which meant that the boy had no idea what they were saying, only hearing the muffled grunts and low electronic clicks. "Have Tarot-" "It would be best if I didn't use such a wide area attack in this enclosed space..." said Tarot "The rest of you could be hit in the blast." Slaughter felt something, a tugging, a yank on one of the pigtails on her helmet. Turning around, she realized it was the boy, who she grabbed by the collar. Instead of showing fear, he simply pointed away from the group to the wall. Slaughter followed his silent instructions, and looked to see the same thing Twinkle-Toes had described hanging from the wall, and looking at them. It was instinct and she obeyed it, raising her gun up and firing several slugs, one of which went into the machine's face, and two others tore through its tendrils before the core exploded. What came next was what could only be expected. From both directions they came, using their tendrils as legs, they came on the walls and ceiling as commonly as the ground. The team opened fire, on them, their rounds going through the machines with relative ease, but that did not change the fact that they were grossly outnumbered. Even Tarot's waves of psychic energy could only so much to keep them back. "We need an exist!" shouted someone. It was then that the boy grabbed a grenade from Slaughter's belt and threw it behind them. The explosion , condensed in that enclosed space, destroyed several of them but also caused many of tunnel to collapse. "You fool...!" Slaughter roared "Are you trying to kill us...?!?" That distraction, as she grabbed him by the throat, forgetting how easily she could crush his neck bones, allowed one of the machines to grab her from behind. Immediately it began trying to take over her suit, causing her to drop her gun and the boy as she struggled, slowly finding herself a prisoner in her own suit. Even her optics were cut off, leaving her blind to what was around her, then her audio receptors, leaving the firefight a muffled, mess around her. Then there was one loud shot, and the malfunctions ceased and her suit rebooted. She immediately looked around to see what had happened, the others were still fighting, the machine on her back had fallen off, a shot through its face and A.I. core. To have missed its energy source said it had to have been done by a shot from below or above. She turned to see her gun on the ground, and behind it, the boy's body limp and blood on his lips. "Follow me...!" Tarot shouted, as she sent forth a wave of psychic energy. She ran off, with the others following. Slaughter grabbed her gun and the boy, and followed as Tarot collapsed the way behind them. The group made their way topside, through another gateway to the subway, and hid themselves in a building. It was possibly an old office building, and they took refuge on the second floor, where the cubicles had been left in a mess by the abandonment. "Why did you bring him...?" asked Digit as she looked at the boy's limp body. "I'm alive..." said the boy with pain and annoyance. He looked up at Digit, who note the blood he coughed up had streamed down his shin. Immediately, Tarot came over and dragged her finger across his lip and placed it in the mouth of the metal skull on her staff. It was an act that made the boy raise in eyebrow in curiosity, that was before Slaughter dropped him. "Damn it...!" he exclaimed as he curled into the fetal position. "Why... (cough) did you do that...?" "I'm not a taxi..." said Slaughter defiantly. "And I'm not as durable as you lot." "And whose fault is that...?" "Slaughter..." said the captain, "We do need him to show us the way." "Gee..." said the boy "Thanks for the concern..." "Doc, check him..." Doc knelt down before him, the scanners on the side of her helmet expanded out, and their scopes extended out. The boy put his clenched hand to his mouth as the strange vibrations, reverberating within him made him queasy. "A few cracked ribs..." said Doc "And one broken rib, nothing too bad, so long as he isn't hit in the chest again. I see bruising on his internal organs. It's a miracle you haven't passed out..." "Yes, a 'miracle'..." said Tarot in her small corner. She seemed to be waiting on her staff to tell her something. "Is he well enough to travel..." asked the captain. "He should be..." said Doc. "Oh, joy, more leaping into danger..." said the boy with obvious sarcasm. "Spare me the sarcasm...boy." said Captain "It won't protect you against them and it's likely to make me put a slug in your head." "To be fair, said slug is more likely to remove my head, but 'semantics'." Captain growled, as the boy struggled to get up. "Can he walk...?" asked Newbie. "He will most likely have to be carried." said Doc. Everyone turned to Slaughter. "Don't look at me, I have axes to carry. I'm more likely to skewer him than protect him!" Slaughter responded. "I'll do it..." said Newbie, with annoyance in her tone. "Oh right..." said Digit "As the newbie you're basically the pack mule. Glad to see you stepping up...!" she said with a joke only she was amused with. "The more time we're stuck here arguing the less time we're using to get to the objective, and get this over with." "She has a point..." said Doc "Very well, you're his bodyguard for now..." Said Captain "Make sure you don't fall behind." Newbie helped the boy onto her back. He wrapped his arms around her neck as Tarot looked around. There was something else in this room, not the machines, those lifeless things had a presence that was easy to miss. This was more...she turned back to the boy and then looked out around the room again. "Can we get to it now...?" said Tarot. "You're unusually grumpy, still not better...?" said the captain. Tarot said nothing, and simply walked off towards the front door. "Hey!" Part 6 The two hooded figures stood atop the skyscraper looking down as the team departed their hiding spot, running down the street as quickly as they could. They noted how Tarot stopped and looked up at them, yet were safe in their believe that she could not perceive them. "That own has a shine to her..." said one of them. "Indeed, but she has not power, not the kind that matters. All that matters is that they go and meet their destiny..." "Indeed, and it will mean victory on this world, if they can succeed." "Indeed, death to the enemy...and that insipid song!" The group ran down street making the transition from the apartments and businesses to warehouses, and now abandoned factories. It was then that Tarot fell to her knees and grabbed her head. "What now...?!?" Captain barked, almost forgetting to keep her voice down. "There...there is something up there." "Yes, the target...!" "No, I don't think this is simply some machines going crazy, there is something...else..." "Digit..." said captain. Several of Digit's tentacles wrapped together and morphed to create a sort of makeshift antennae. "I'm not getting anything beyond the basic. No psychic field, alpha, or beta range..." "Seriously..." said Tarot. "Sorry, I call them like I see them..." "Not that, every since he got here, you lot act my powers have never worked!" "Keep your voice down...!" said captain. "When you pull your head out of your ass, something is wrong, something rest of you can't even see!" "Watch your tone, witch...!" "Finally, an honest word from you..." The two butted heads and gripped their weapons tightly, their glared obvious even as each wore a helmet. "You know..." said the boy. "Just because your sensors can't pick up something doesn't mean she's crazy." "What are you suggesting...?" said Digit, with a sense that she had been insulted. "Well, your equipment is looking for very specific things, but psychic powers are more...vague, and more of a wide band sweep. All I'm saying is that we take note to be extra cautious, get along on our way, and move because all this shouting is bound to attract attention..." The tension was suddenly gone, as Captain and Tarot backed away from each other. "You have a way with logic kid..." "Yes, my father would be proud..." "Where is he...?" asked Newbie as the group began to move again. The boy simply looked at her, with his constant stoic expression, but he had a hint of annoyance. "We're in a city that has been ravaged by unholy abominations of circuits and mechanism. You tell me were you think he is, chances are you're probably right." "Oh...sorry..." "It's...nothing...thanks for asking..." "What do you mean...?" "You're honestly the only one who shows any sort of care about my well being." "That's not true..." said Digit. "What is my name...?" Most of the group looked back and back to the front. "Oh...ahhh..." said Newbie. "Don't bother..." said Captain "He's a smart kid, he knows he's not going to live long enough for us to care..." "Uh..." "It's Naviel." "How about I call you Navi...?" "How about I jump into a furnace and spare myself the pain?" "Sweet Empress you're grim...you sure you're not the captain's secret kid?" The captain growled, and newbie made a noise like that of a mouse. "Fairly certain, my mother would not eat me." There was a chuckle among the group. "Hmmm..." "What...?" "We're all happy and dandy, this is sort of usually the time when something bad happens." It was at that moment the group dead stopped, as the ground began to tremble. They could see the stacks of smoke and the tops of the machines in the distance approaching. "Really...?" said Tarot annoyed. Naviel just shrugged. "Is it my fault for noticing that flag, or yours for not noticing them?" He replied. The group scattered, making their way into the abandoned buildings where they hid. The machines walked past them. Tarot turned at the behest of the tapping on her shoulder. She saw Digit making conversation with her hands. She opened and closed her hand, thumb opposite the rest of the fingers, while shaking her head from side to side. She then pointed to the com-system and then put her hands in an X position. It was clear to Tarot what she meant. Tarot closed her eyes and concentrated as the optics on her staff's skull glowed brightly. Her psychic power extended out around her, connecting to everyone's mind...almost everyone, despite being so close to her, with Newbie and Digit, she could not sense his mind, and as she looked at him, and he looked back, the pretense was basically gone. She knew, he knew, and so on and so forth. Tarot didn't have time to care about that however. her voice echoed in the team's skulls